Different views on possible public transport cuts

On NewsTalk two guests, who are on taking about two different items are also asked about purposed public transport cuts…

First, defending the cuts, there’s the Green Party senator Dan Boyle. Very strangely Boyle defends the cuts by saying the cuts will likely be on off peak, after 8pm. If Dan used public transport any time recently he’d know that service levels at this time are already low. Cutting frequency at this time adds weight to pro-car arguments that “public transport is not frequency enough when I travel” or “it does not suit X or Y journeys I take”.

Meanwhile, in the unlikely defence of public transport is AA spokesman Conor Faughnan. I say unlikely, as AA being a motoring organisation, but the AA are acutely aware how overused the car is in Ireland. Faughnan outlines how talking about cuts is a step back when public transport, according to him, only carries 20 percent of Dublin commuter compared to closer to 80 percent in other EU states.

Ireland as a nation has yet to grasp how dominate the car is.

Boyle also mentioned the soon-to-be released Government plan on sustainable transport. Fair enough, we’ll see what that contains, in the meanwhile the Greens need to stop defending the undefendable. Have they not noticed the backlash of a good number of people who think they have failed to implement green policies already?